Keyd Stars qualifies for The International 12

Keyd Stars is one of the least-known Dota 2 teams that compete at the highest level. They’re from South America and will participate in The International 12 thanks to winning the regional qualifier.

This year, Valve shocked everyone with its decision to offer the South American region two additional spots at The International, while regions like China and Eastern Europe only got one.

What made the decision even more shocking is that SA Dota only has two strong teams: beastcoast and Evil Geniuses. And both of them finished Dota Pro Circuit in the top 12. Subsequently, they no longer had to compete in the regional qualifier, which was full of underdogs that will likely get destroyed at TI12.

The situation is very similar to that from Eastern Europe, where the top three teams finished DPC in the top 12. The winner of the qualifier, Virtus.pro, is light years behind the world’s strongest teams.

SONHA, ACREDITA E COMEMORA. FIZEMOS HISTÓRIA MAIS UMA VEZ E ESTAMOS NO THE INTERNATIONAL!

A Vivo Keyd Stars colocou o Dota brasileiro na elite e vamos juntos disputar o #TI2023 em Seattle! Obrigado a todos pela torcida e a caminhada não para por aqui.

VAMOOOOO 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷 #GoVKS pic.twitter.com/RllNr9bhAW

— Vivo Keyd Stars (@VivoKeyd) August 25, 2023

Keyd Stars’ path to glory

Keyd Stars began their SA journey with a victory against Mad Kings. The score was 2-0 and in both games, Keyd used heroes from the new meta: Troll Warlord, Gyrocopter, and Lycan. In the second game, they managed to beat a deadly combo made up of Invoker, Medusa, Silencer, Earthshaker, and Snapfire.

In the upper bracket semifinals, Keyd encountered Thunder Awaken, who were regarded as the number one favorite to win the tournament. Game 1 was lost against a Meepo, but games 2 and 3 were won with the same types of drafts that were employed in the first match.

Three heroes that stand out in these Keyd drafts are Tusk, Gyrocopter, and Troll.

The upper bracket Final was supposed to be the toughest match played by Keyd Stars, but it ended relatively quickly with a 2-0 score. In game 1, Keyd used Sven and Nature’s Prophet against a Terrorblade. In game 2, their Invoker and Gyrocopter couldn’t be stopped.

Thanks to this success, Keyd Stars will have the opportunity to play in the most important tournament in the history of the team.

This is an organization that started playing Dota 2 more seriously in 2023 and did not get a single top-3 result in Division I. In fact, they got relegated to Division II after Tour 2 and had to win this division to return to Division I. It will be interesting to see them competing against the likes of Gaimin Gladiators and PSG.LGD.

Header: Valve Corporation